Month: October 2014

This is one of my favorite Christian songs that has never failed to capture my heart. It reminds me of God’s grace and mercy, and of how He still wants me by His side in spite of all my failures and shortcomings. The pre-chorus says, “My heart and my soul, I give You control. Consume me from the inside out,” which is the perfect response to the goodness & faithfulness of the One whose light shines when all else fails and whose glory goes beyond all fame.

“AND THE CRY OF MY HEART IS TO GIVE YOU PRAISE FROM THE INSIDE OUT OF MY SOUL…”

It’s a fight that we’re all gonna have to face
To live a life where we’re nothing apart from grace
Oh Jesus make our will Your very own
We feel the pull of wonder
We wonder everyday
We need Your love to lead us
To show us the way
We sing out, we seek Your face
Pour out Your graceEveryday Your love is newEveryday You make me new
We sing out, we sing Your praise
With healed hearts we sayEveryday Your love is newEveryday You make me new
Forgive us forgive us
From where we have fallen
And fill us, fill us with Your presence
Renew a steadfast spirit Lord within us

Psalm 136 is known for repeating “His love endures forever” in all its verses. As I was doing my devotion, I can’t seem to dig deeper through it. I know that when something is repeatedly being said, it means emphasis. But beyond that, I know I’m still missing out on something. So I decided to tune in to Chris Tomlin’s “Forever,” which also reiterates “His love endures forever” in every verse. As I was singing, it felt good to sing “His live endures forever” over and over again. Then it occurred to me that, “Hey! Psalm 136 is also a song! And the Psalmist was singing those wonderful lyrics over and over again not in vain but in pure, solid worship; a declaration that indeed, His love and mercy is the same yesterday, today and forevermore!”

“…the everlasting continuance of the mercy of God is very much his honour and that which he glories in, and very much the saints’ comfort and that which they glory in. It is that which therefore our hearts should be full of and greatly affected with, so that the most frequent mention of it, instead of cloying us, should raise us the more, because it will be the subject of our praise to all eternity.” -Matthew Henry

“They just wanted the perks like blessings and favor that Christians have but they do not want to take seriously the responsibilities that go with it. One foot on worldly things. The other foot on holy things.”

This words came from my mentor. Such powerful words they are indeed. Sad but true. Some Christians just want the blessings but are not committed to carry their own crosses and follow Christ.

Many of Jesus’ followers live powerless lives and act like losers and weaklings because they are not sold out to God’s cause and still want to get the best of the world. Many Christians still fall for the same old trap of money, fame, and fortune, choosing to settle for lesser, “less tasky” things, thus forsaking their greater calling.

With great power comes great responsibility. Christians carry the greatest responsibility in the entire universe because they carry the greatest power in the world, which, was handed to us when Christ made the greatest sacrifice that could ever be recorded.

It’s easy to forget this simple yet profound truth when we want to take over our lives. Many of us don’t want to yield to His ways. Many of us don’t submit to His plans. Many of us carve our own paths than to stick with God’s plan for us. We call Him “Lord, Lord” but we don’t want to let go. We are just so afraid to die to our own selfish ways…

To all of us who have been called, let us make up our minds to follow only one Master, and to follow Him with no reservations.

“Let all that is within me lift up to you and say, ‘I am yours and yours alone -Completely.'”